Easy and Affordable Home Improvements for Senior Safety
As a person ages, the body naturally experiences changes in center of gravity and a loss of muscle strength. These changes put seniors at risk for falling and can lead to serious injury or even death. One in three people over the age of 65 take a bad fall each year, with two-thirds of those falls happening at home.
|
The Home Safety Council’s website is full of information that can help guide seniors, adult children, and caregiver to improve the condition of a home. Their video on senior home safety is a good start. See the video here.
|
Falls can have a detrimental effect on a person’s ability to live an independent life. An otherwise healthy senior who has fallen may suffer a broken hip or a head injury. Injuries of this type require hospitalization and lengthy recoveries, frequently in a long-term care facility. The physical and emotional tolls that a senior suffers during this period can be life altering and strip a senior of an independent life.
Prevention is key to warding off falls, and it often only involves a few simple home improvements. AARP’s annual survey that evaluates the senior population’s desire to age in place reveals that seniors are making home improvements, even small adjustments, which enable them to stay in their homes safely. The AARP findings showed that 70% of seniors have made at least one modification to their homes and half believe that the simple change will allow them to stay in their homes for about 10 more years.
Furthermore, the Department of Health and Human Services reports that half of the homes owned by seniors were built prior to 1960. The Administration on Aging adds that seniors are staying in their homes longer than the generation behind them. The result is seniors of increasingly older age are living in older homes and therefore run even a higher risk for falls.
Fortunately, minor improvements in the home and some simple pr-activity on the part of the senior can greatly reduce a senior’s chances for falling and provide a comfortable, efficient, and safe home.
Quick fixes for creating a safer environment
A good approach to begin creating a safer environment for seniors is to ask them what they have trouble with around the house, or watch them move within their home to determine what is causing them difficulty. The rooms in the home where the senior spends the most time, such as the family room, bathroom, kitchen, and bedroom, can be a good starting point. This room-by-room safety guide helps the senior, adult child, or caregiver focus on easy changes for a safer and more comfortable senior living space.
Overall Improvements:
- Cleanup clutter around the home to greatly lessen the chances of tripping. Look for any low-lying items that are on the floor, such as stacks of magazines or plants, which may be close to a walking path. Move electrical cords from lamps or in-home medical devices so that they are out of the way.
- Inspect the condition of the floor in each room. Carpet shouldn’t be too shaggy or be wrinkling; feet catch easily on both. Tile or vinyl can be slippery, especially when wet. Secure throw rugs with anti-slip pads, tape them down, or remove them altogether. Stairs are particularly dangerous, so keep them clutter-free and install handrails on both sides.
- Ensure there is enough lighting outside leading into the home and inside the home, in all walkways, and in rooms that the senior uses the most. Keep flashlights in easy-to-see and -reach locations.
- Replace doorknobs with easy, lever-style handles.
The Bathroom:
- Install grab bars around the tub, shower, and toilet.
- Elevate toilet seats.
- Consider a walk-in shower or bathtub with built-in seating, or put a shower seat in the bathing area.
- Use non-skid mats in front of the sink and toilet and outside the tub if you don't put down low-pile carpeting.
- Cover the bottom of the tub with a suctioned safety mat or a permanent rough coating.
- Replace faucet knobs with lever handles to make it easy to turn water on and off.
The Kitchen:
- Make sure everything in the kitchen is within easy reach, so that a stepstool is not necessary.
- Post all important phone numbers,emergency contacts, and the senior’s doctors on the refrigerator.
- Post a list of all medications the senior is taking, any allergies, and any health conditions.
- Ensure lighting is sufficient.
The Bedroom:
- Use a bed only as high as necessary. An elevated bed can be a problem to get in and out of.
- Make sure the path to the bathroom is clear.
- Install night lights where necessary for middle-of-the-night bathroom trips.
Although restrictions such as age or income level may apply, some states offer senior citizens access to grants to repair their homes. For example the city of Framingham, Massachusetts offers seniors up to $4,000 for an exterior painting improvement. Your city’s clerk’s office is a great place to start inquiring about grants; otherwise, agencies that assist seniors in your area may be able to direct you to find home improvement grants.
With approximately one-third of the senior population living alone at home, and one in three of that group falling each year, home improvements make a senior more comfortable, help prevent falls, and help keep seniors in their homes longer.The American Psychological Association cites that 75 percent of seniors ages 65 to 74 and 66 percent of seniors over 75 years old who live in their own homes “report their health to be good, very good or excellent compared with others their age.” Some minor attention to the house has proven to help seniors maintain a more independent and fulfilling life for longer while remaining at home.
|